This article describes how to help build the ultimate Tippman sniper rifle for use in Paintball. There is much controversy in the paintball world when it comes to snipers. Many believe that there is no such thing, as paintballs don't fly straight and it is impractical to snipe. Others believe that although all markers have the same range, the combination of a good setup and a good marksman can hit from long range. Either way, you won't be doing the military sniping from 3/4 a mile away.

Steps

1

Purchase a decent barrel - There are a variety of lengths and materials that can drastically increase your accuracy. The two things that most influence your accuracy are the paintball and barrel combination. A Flatline Barrel System by Tippmann is proven to increase range. If you don't get a flatline, a barrel 14–16 inches (35.6–40.6 cm), possibly a J and J ceramic, a Smart Parts barrel, or an Apex barrel attachment which can effectively increase the range of your marker by 100 feet (30.5 m). Do not get anything long just to maintain the same fps. Barrel kits are often the most versatile and accurate barrels available as you can match the size of your barrel to the size of the paintballs you are shooting. Make sure your barrel has the right threading. Note that the A5 takes different threading than the 98 custom.

2

Get a good paintball match to your barrel - All paintballs say they are .68 caliber, but all brands still aren't all exactly the same size. If the paintballs you are shooting do not match your barrel, they will either not shoot straight or they will burst in the barrel. You can tell if the paintball matches the barrel by removing your barrel and dropping a paintball in it. If it just rolls out, the paintball is too small; if it gets stuck when you blow into the barrel, it is too big. It needs not to fall out but go through easily whenever you blow into the barrel. The best way to get a good bore to paintball match is to get a barrel kit that includes different barrel pieces to match variously size paintballs. When it comes to buying paintballs, you usually get what you pay for. The cheaper the paint, the more dimples and inconsistencies they tend to have. This, of course, hurts your accuracy. Paintballs range in price from $25-$75 for 2000 balls. More expensive paintballs will typically be the best, but not always.

3

Learn the importance of consistency - If your marker doesn't shoot an equal amount of air or CO2 each time, a good barrel hardly helps, you will not be able to shoot accurately. Consistency is improved by the use of a regulator. Regulators are either high or low pressure. If you get one make sure that the pressure rating of the regulator is compatible with the pressure needed to operate the marker. With most woodsball marker, this will be high pressure. Regulators do what the name says; they regulate the gas to keep the gas getting to the valve at a constant pressure, so each shot should expel exactly the same amount of gas. In combination with a good bore to paint size match, regulators can make your marker shoot paint much more accurately.

4

Reduce friction within the marker -Tippmanns are one of the most popular markers for woodsball and many people "snipe" with them, but from the factory Tippmanns have paint residue in the receiver where the bolts move that causes friction. If you polish the contact points between the front bolt, rear bolt, and the receivers, you can drastically decrease friction within the marker, making the Tippmann shoot much more consistently. And consistency is just as important as accuracy.

5

Understand the value of a sight versus a scope. A sight is a good idea to get consistently more accurate shots, NOT A SCOPE. Scopes are considered largely impractical in paintball because paintballs don't fly straight, it takes time to focus somebody into a scope, and scopes won't help you by getting a magnified picture of somebody, as you can't hit them anyway. At their maximum range, paintballs go some 200 feet (61.0 m), and the aim range is more like 75–100 feet (22.9–30.5 m). A sight could be a red dot sight or simple iron sights. and if your sniping, you'll likely be aiming your gun up in the air higher than your target, since the paintballs will drop off after a certain distance.

6

Getting a remote kit, which is a line that allows you to put your Co2 Tank or Air Tank on your back, will allow you to significantly lighten your marker. This allows you to crawl more quickly and bring your marker to bear faster, as well as making it easier to get through the woods.

7

Understand that camouflage is very important Since the ideal range for a regular player is about like 50–60 feet (15.2–18.3 m),a sniper can be anywhere from 100 feet (30.5 m) to about 200 if you elevate your shot, and if you do it at a 40 degree arch, you'll get about 300 feet (91.4 m), but no guarantees.125 feet (0.0 m) is where you are sure to hit them with one shot,so you need to be able to conceal yourself, and that means your marker and you needs to be camouflaged. Get a ghillie suit if you can afford one, if not use local vegetation, or branches, bushes and twigs, and fasten them onto you. the more natural you look, the better.

8

Be sure to have a stock for stability. It may, or may not, improve your performance as a sniper it will make your marker more stable though, especially while standing up, and will help you when adjust your marker for a long shot .

9

Almost every paintball marker has a very similar effective range (even 200ft isn't that far, and you probably won't hit them from that range unless you practice with long-balling, where you elevate your paintball gun.) a paintball sniper must get close to be assured a one shot kill, and this means that you are well within the enemies range. You must be well concealed, and you must be able to hit what you shoot at. Your marker should reflect that.

10

You can also lower your a5's trigger pull by getting a mechanical pencil spring and swapping it with part #2 in the manual. If the spring is two short it may cause the marker to fire randomly. Get a few springs to see which one works best, but note that this can be illegal in some fields, and you may end up shooting more balls than you need. stick to what you have, but if you don't like the pull, then go ahead and swap out the springs, and save the springs too.

11

Have fun tinkering with the marker. A5's can be easily transformed into a variety of markers, such as M4's, AK47's and MP5's, but its mostly cosmetic, and won't help your actual game, except for maybe lighter load and steadier shot.

12

A bipod also helps if you like to crawl around on the field, or are set up in a bunker, or whatever you manage to find.

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Tips

Avoid anything shiny.

Take care of your marker.

There are a number of great barrels available - you can't go wrong with a Tippmann Flatline, but you'll pay about $150 for it, which is a pretty barrel, but does work.

When you move try not to step on branches or leaves, this will give away your position. Instead try to step on rocks, because they don't make any sound when you step on them.

A lot of good sniper gear is available at actionvillage.com, opsgear.com, pntball.com, uoarmory.com, or your local pro shop if you need it.

Camouflage your marker well. Stick some brush from your surrounding area on while you are waiting.

An even better barrel is the BT Designs Apex. The Apex allows you to field-tune your shots and adjust for conditions in the field and the paint. It will take a few games to get a feel for how the barrel works, but once you master the Apex, you can make amazing shots that even a Flatline would have trouble with.

Avoid anything big on you or your marker, and no 21 inch (53.3 cm) barrels!

Length of barrels in field tests show no effect on accuracy. Only smooth silky honing, and bore matching do. The honing in the most important thing. 8–12 inches (20.3–30.5 cm) show the best results in aiding consistency however.

Warnings

Do not go spend a fortune on accessories like a scope, 20 inch (50.8 cm) barrel, bi pod, and ghillie cover. This stuff doesn't make you better at paintball. A good paintball sniper would be good with a Talon while wearing jeans and a green shirt. The paintball sniper is a strategist, who uses few paintballs and spends most of the game hiding and watching, and making his move at the right time, by slowly picking guys off, and not revealing your location. take someone out when lots of paintballs are flying, they won't know where it came from, or at least you'll throw them off.

Things You'll Need

A Tippmann 98 custom,A5,X7 or other quality marker

A quality barrel/Flatline barrel

A remote kit(optional)

sight(optional)

Decent camouflage or Ghillie suit ( optional but recommended)Multi-cam works the best.